Urinary incontinence, the inability to control urination from the bladder, is a widespread problem that affects people of all ages. Urinary incontinence is more prevalent in women than in men. Urinary incontinence in women is typically causes by intrinsic spincter deficiency (ISD), a condition in which the valve of the urethral spincter do not properly coapt, or by hypermobillity, a condition in which the muscles around the bladder relax, causing the bladder neck and proximal urethra to rotate and descend in response to increases in intraabdominal pressure. Hypermobilty may be the result of pregnancy or other conditions which weaken the muscles. Urinary incontinence in men can be caused by post radical prostatectomy, which destroys the valves of the urethral spincter. Urinary incontinence can also be caused by birth defects, disease injury, aging and urinary tract infection.
Numerous approaches for treating urinary incontinence are available. One treatment is a surgical operation to return the bladder and proximal urethra to their normal anatomical positions by elevating them in order to reduce intraabdominal pressure. There are also noninvasive procedures for stabilizing and/or slightly compressing the urethra so as to prevent the leakage of urine. For example, a stabilizing or compressive force may be applied by sutures passing through the soft tissue surrounding the urethra or, alternatively, may be applied by means of a sling suspended by sutures. In some procedures bone anchors are inserted in the pubic bone or symphysis pubis in order to anchor the suture to the bone. Often an anchor receiving hole is drilled into the bone prior to inserting the anchor. Other bone anchor devices incorporate a drill for predrilling an opening in the bone thus eliminate the need for a predrilling step.